A group of researchers offered participants of a study a choice between purchasing a Hershey ’s Kiss chocolate for 1-cent ($0.01) or Lindt Lindor chocolate truffle for 15 cents ($0.15). The participants, recognizing this as a good deal since the price differential in a supermarket would be larger than 14 cents between the two options, overwhelmingly … Continue reading The Power of Free
Category: Teaching and Education
Three Cheers for the Ivies
Here was the heading in a Wall Street Journal story today: The Ivy League Is Still on the Sidelines. Wealthy Alumni Are Not Happy. followed by this sub-heading: Billionaire Joe Tsai’s rebuffed offer to fund a lacrosse ‘bubble’ is one sign of how pressure is mounting on the conference that never returned to the field. … Continue reading Three Cheers for the Ivies
A Little Break-Up Humor…
During my accounting lecture yesterday, we were talking about how to account for interest expense (I'll stop right there, I don't want to lose my audience that soon). On one of the PowerPoint slides that one of my colleagues had put together, he had inserted the following joke: Why did the banker break up with … Continue reading A Little Break-Up Humor…
A Mother’s Income and the Length of Their Child’s Ring Finger vs Index Finger
Last year I wrote a post: What Your Fingers Reveal About You that looked at the claim that the relative size of your pointer (index) finger vs. your ring finger revealed a lot about your personality. Since my index finger is longer than my ring finger, here is what that meant for my personality: Men … Continue reading A Mother’s Income and the Length of Their Child’s Ring Finger vs Index Finger
Doctor A vs. Doctor B
As a result of my recent health scare, I am taking more meds than I have ever taken in my life. I don't like taking so many meds, but if they help me avoid surgery, then I guess it will be worth it. But one of the problems is that there has recently become a … Continue reading Doctor A vs. Doctor B
The World’s Most Annoying Sound?
I saw the following headline on Gizmodo earlier this week: Which Sounds Are the Most Annoying to Humans? and my first thought was the following clip from Dumb and Dumber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cVlTeIATBs Surprisingly, that sound did not make it into the article. Gizmodo reached out to a number of sound-experts to find out what the most … Continue reading The World’s Most Annoying Sound?
Another Hat Tip to Seth Godin
It's been a while since I wrote about one of Seth Godin's blog posts, even though I read it every day. It seems like many of his posts are a variation on a common set of themes. Since I have read so many of his posts over the years, I often recognize what the thrust … Continue reading Another Hat Tip to Seth Godin
Villasnowva!
OK. I can't take credit for the title. It was the headline of a story in the student newspaper about our recent snowstorm. I've been at Nova for almost 35 years, and this is the first time I've heard that term. And I just had to use it. As I noted in a previous post, … Continue reading Villasnowva!
Music Monday: This Used to Be Music to My Ears
As the snow started coming down last night, I kept waiting to see if my classes would be canceled for today. I kept checking the news sites that listed school closings, but no sign of Villanova among the dozens of schools listed. My wife found out that her school was closed mid-evening, but I went … Continue reading Music Monday: This Used to Be Music to My Ears
Bikeshedding: Guilty As Charged
I've never heard of the term bikeshedding until today, while I was browsing through the wonderful The Decision Lab web site. Here is the site's tagline: People make 35,000 decisions a day. We decode them to create transformational change for people, products, and organizations. How could I avoid a website like that? It looks like … Continue reading Bikeshedding: Guilty As Charged
Borden's Blather 